Celebrating Five Years of Astrid

Today is Astrid's 5th birthday. She's still young enough that each birthday brings back visceral memories of the day she came into our world: I had the flu, and was having nebulizer treatments in between contractions. (They didn't help much.) We had an unmedicated water birth; without the heat from the water, I'm not sure I could have done it unmedicated, as the little girl came very quickly, and I felt like a watermelon split down the middle. (At one point, I announced to Terry and the two midwives that I would not be able to complete the task, as I was about to expire.) In the days after Elliot's birth (during which I did accept some help with pain), I felt like Wonder Woman; after Astrid's, I felt sheepish for making so much noise (a completely bizarre response, as her birth felt twice as painful as Elliot's, and happened twice as fast).

Now that Astrid's 5, I again feel like Wonder Woman, as she has presented challenges that we never had with Elliot, and has demanded a degree of connectedness from all of us that we weren't entirely prepared for. (Consider her early nicknames: half the time we called her Cozy Kitty, because she was so deliciously snuggly [and still is], while the rest of the time, she cried so much that we called her Disastrid. Once she was a toddler, she could be Sweetiepie Space Girl *and* The Red Menace in the space of a half hour.) While she still has tough moments (and days), she also grows more clever, more creative, more curious--and more beloved--every day.

So it's a very happy day for all of us. Happy Birthday, Astrid!